Corpus Christi RC Church is another one of the cathedral like Polish Catholic churches in the East Side
of Buffalo, NY.  The organ at Corpus Christi Church in Buffalo, NY is quite a rare gem in Buffalo, and 
the U.S.  I believe it is the only remaining organ by the A. Radziewicz Organ Co of Milburn, NJ.  The 
instrument, which was installed in 1922, has been somewhat modified tonally; however, most of the 
pipe work is original.  

Very little is known about the Radziewicz Organ Co, but one could get a pretty good idea, when listening 
or playing it.  One should be aware that the specification has been slightly altered.  This was done 
in the 1960's when Po-Chedley and Sons of Buffalo, NY worked on the instrument.  Some of the 
stop names have been changed to fit the 1960's trend, nut tonally not much was done to the organ.  
(Except re-voicing of most of the reeds that sadly had disastrous results - more on that later.) 

Most people that heard the organ before the Po-Chedley work described the sound as a "lovely sound with 
a hint of a theater like sound."  It is a fact that the Great division originally had an 8' 
Tibia and a 4' Wald Flute and for what ever reason, those ranks were removed.  The Great division 
also had an 8' Tuba originally and was replaced with a harmonic Cornopean (exactly like the one 
in the Swell division) that they called 8' Trumpet.  That rank was also extended to 4'.  Both 
the 4' Wald Flute and 8' Tuba are in a back storage room upstairs in the rear gallery, but the 8' 
Tibia rank is long gone and no one seems to know where it is.  One definite addition was the fully 
independent 8', 4', 2 2/3', and 2' Principal chorus in the Swell.  No 1920's American organ of 
less than 30 ranks had an independent Principal chorus in the Swell division, so that was definitely 
added sometime later.  You were lucky to get a 4' Fugura in the 1920's, let a lone an actual 4' 
Octave or Principal scaled 2 2/3' and 2' in the Swell.  

As I mentioned earlier, all but one of the reeds were re-voiced by Po-Chedley in 1966.  I don't know 
what they did wrong, but almost all of them hardly play anymore.  The 8' Cornopean is completely 
unusable, as is the 8' Clarinet that is completely disconnected.  Everyone that knows the organ well, 
blames it on the re-voicing.  The rest of the reeds are usable to a certain extent.  Ironically the 
one rank that Po-Chedley didn't re-voice which is the Oboe that places at 16' t.c. and 4' in the Swell 
and 8' in the Pedal works just fine.  As if this wasn't bad enough, in November of 2009, the Swell division 
got rained on and suffered significant water damage.  The organ also suffers of old unreliable wiring and 
electronics, especially in the console.  

The console is equipped with parts from Klann Organ Supply, which have suffered from age.  The combination 
action hardly works anymore.  Fortunately however, the Church received around the neighborhood of $37,000 
for the repair of the water damage in the Swell division and an extra $5,000 was spent on other repairs.  
The work is currently being done as I speak (September 2011).  The parish is planning on a concert in 
December of 2011 that will feature the organ.  The Church also plans on addressing other major 
issues of the organ in phases.  The following is the description of the instrument in the organ 
brochure. 

"The exceptional pipe organ at Corpus Christi Church is one of the only pipe organs in the Buffalo 
area whose builder is of Polish heritage.  The three manual 32 rank pipe organ dates to 1922.  It 
was installed in a divided case by the A. Radziewicz Pipe Organ Company of Milburn, NJ at a 
cost of $23,000.  The case work of the instrument is made of chestnut wood.  The instrument had 
2,014 pipes when it was installed, ranging in size from half an inch to twenty feet with most of 
the facade pipes actually speaking.  A unique feature of the organ was that it had a three manual 
horseshoe console that was mounted on a "Lazy Susan" type of platform that allowed the organist 
an easily adjusted view of the choir.  It is said that the instrument was built on site and used a 
house on Lombard Street as a temporary shop to construct the necessary parts.  

In 1966, the Po-Chedley and Son Company of Tonawanda, NY was commissioned to completely re-leather 
and renovate the pipe organ.  The horseshoe console was replaces with a new contemporary key desk 
console.  Also replaced were the reservoirs, relays and switches, swell engines, blower and 
rectifier.  Since the general tone quality of the instrument was admired, only some tonal changes 
were made.  

In the 1970's, the Tenerowicz Pipe Organ Service added a 16' Wooden Trombone that came from the 
former Johnson and Son pipe organ of neighboring St. Ann's Church in Buffalo.  A new Principal chorus 
from the former St. Paul and St. Mark United Church of Christ in Buffalo was also added.

When an organist plays a superior instrument, "voices" or different sounds of the organ are played 
individually, or in selected combinations.  Corpus Christi's organ, with it's many fine examples 
of "voices" from Diapasons or Principal stops, to rich mellow Flutes and Strings which are so 
lush, and even the brassy sounds of the Reeds, create a remarkably rich pallette that is 
available to the artist.  The organ's quality, in combination with Corpus Christi's impressive 
acoustics, make services a truly spirit-filled experience."